


the brave hero and the illusory princess of enbarr tower

by joltik



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Happy Halloween!, Hegemon Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27311695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joltik/pseuds/joltik
Summary: They say there’s a princess at the top of Enbarr Tower.This isn’t like Byleth, really. She’s a mercenary by trade, doing nearly anything she’s paid to, within limits, but going to rescue a princess on a whim, for free? Still, something about the rumors intrigues her.Mainly the rumors of the people who tried to climb the tower and ended up disappearing, plus the fact that the townspeople speak of the princess with nearly as much fear as they do of the tower itself.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	the brave hero and the illusory princess of enbarr tower

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself I wouldn't write Hegeleth until I finished AM, but, well, it's Halloween, and this takes liberties with her portrayal anyway.
> 
> Heavily inspired by and loosely based on 74 by Itoki Hana and Toby Fox, although I took some liberties with that as well (particularly the ending....it's pretty ambiguous but I like to think it's a little more hopeful...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poKI_MY0Bkw
> 
> Listen, I just heard the song and immediately had Hegemon El brainworms. That's just how it goes sometimes.
> 
> Follow me on twitter if you want more Edelgard nonsense on your timeline, or if you just want to make me write an Edeleth Shrek AU when I hit 200 followers. https://twitter.com/tinyjoltiks

They say there’s a princess at the top of Enbarr Tower.

This isn’t like Byleth, really. She’s a mercenary by trade, doing nearly anything she’s paid to, within limits, but going to rescue a princess on a whim, for free? Still, something about the rumors intrigues her.

Mainly the rumors of the people who tried to climb the tower and ended up disappearing, plus the fact that the townspeople speak of the princess with nearly as much fear as they do of the tower itself.

It’s a tall, intimidating structure, all twisting stairwells and dark spires, at once sturdy and yet precarious—like a single wrong move could cause a rippling effect and bring the whole thing down.

As she approaches, she sees long white hair, can just make out the princess’s pale features through an open window at the top of the tower. She has an ethereal beauty like nothing Byleth’s ever seen before, that draws her in, makes the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

The princess looks down upon her, studying her. “Have you come to rescue me?” she finally says, her voice quiet enough that Byleth almost has to strain to hear.

“Yes, I have,” Byleth answers, voice flat but full of conviction.

The princess continues to study her for a long moment before nodding. “The path ahead of you is challenging, brave hero. Many have fallen before you, and you very well may be next. If you are prepared—”

Byleth opens the door.

It doesn’t take long for her to realize that one wrong move within the tower can be fatal. Touching the wrong part of the floor or a wall triggers an arrow trap or spikes. There are trick stairs, magic traps, illusions.

She burns her hand on a cursed door, nearly loses an eye to a stray arrow. Twists her ankle stepping on a a floorboard that turns out not to exist. Still, she presses on.

On several floors, she finds her way blocked by monsters. A giant wolf latching onto her leg with its powerful jaws, a giant bird raking her shoulder with its razor-sharp claws. Still, she presses on.

Occasionally, the princess calls out to her. “Are you still persevering, brave hero?” “You can still turn back.” “You’re injured. You don’t have to do this.” Still, even as she sees more and more remnants of the victims of this tower who have come before her, Byleth presses on.

It gets harder and harder as she goes. Blood loss slows her down, makes it harder to think clearly. Traces of poison and curses accumulated from the traps she’s accidentally triggered makes her movements more sluggish. The traps become more numerous and harder to avoid as she climbs higher, and the monsters give way to demonic beasts—bigger, fiercer, more dangerous.

She’s near the top of the tower when a demonic beast slams her against the wall and she hears a loud _crack_ , and she thinks, _this is the end._ She can’t feel her arm anymore. The entire rest of her body is screaming in pain, and she feels her vision spotting, everything going black.

“You’ve done so well, hero,” the princess says. “Please rest, now...I’m sorry it turned out like this.”

She doesn’t know why she perseveres, where her second wind comes from. It’s no great emotional outburst—to her memory, such a thing has never happened to her, and it’s rare for her to feel strong emotions at all. But she feels this _drive_ from within herself, that she needs to make it to the top, no matter what. Even if she dies in the process.

She forces her way to her feet, forces herself past the demonic beast, keeps climbing. Byleth presses on.

“Why…” she hears the princess’s voice echo around her. “Why do you keep going, brave hero? Why do you persevere, even though...”

Byleth presses on.

The princess’s door grows closer and closer, as the princess herself pleads with her. “Please turn back, hero. There’s nothing for you here.”

Byleth presses on.

She reaches the door. “Some things can never be taken back. If you open the door—”

The heavy iron door creaks open slowly, sounding ominously like a low, deep groan.

There is no princess waiting for her at the top of Enbarr Tower. Or, rather..she has the same face as the princess, the same ethereal white hair, but she also has scales, thick black feathers, massive wings that occupy most of the small room...part human, part demonic beast, like nothing Byleth has ever seen before. Beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” the monster/princess says, before stabbing her through the front with her massive claws. “You should have turned back, brave hero.”

“Why…?” Byleth breathes, her voice fading. (She finds herself wondering, through the fog in her mind, if this is what dying feels like...though she has no intention of giving up so easily, and at least the monstet/princess hasn't made to strike a killing blow.)

The great black beast holds up a hand, manifesting the Crest of Flames, and a series of visions play out in Byleth’s head. The princess—still human—being brought here, imprisoned by mages in dark robes, beaked masks. Those same mages performing horrifying experiments on her, transforming her gradually, grotesquely, irreversibly, into what she is now. The mages setting up traps, filling the tower with monsters, to keep anyone else from finding their greatest mistake, and eventually the princess—Edelgard—adding to them, to keep anyone from reaching her.

“Why?” Byleth says again. “Why not...let anyone reach you?”

“You can see me, can you not?” the princess says with a hollow laugh. “I’m a monster.”

“Actually…” Byleth says. Speaking is becoming laborous, but she presses on. “I think...we’re kindred spirits.” 

She holds up a hand, manifesting her own Crest of Flames, as Edelgard stares on in wonder.

The princess/beast takes her into her massive arms, holds her with a surprising gentleness, and Byleth says, “Maybe...I”m a little bit monstrous, too.”


End file.
